Every book you read is another life lived, especially when the plot and characters are so worked out. "War and Peace" is a unique epic novel, there is nothing like it in Russian or world literature. The events described in it take place in St. Petersburg, Moscow, foreign estates of nobles and in Austria for the whole 15 years. The scale and characters are striking.
War and Peace is a novel that mentions over 600 characters. Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy describes them so accurately that the few well-aimed characteristics that end-to-end characters are awarded are enough to form an idea about them. Therefore, "War and Peace" is whole life in all the fullness of colors, sounds and sensations. She is worth living.
The origin of the idea and creative search
In 1856, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy began writing a story about the life of a Decembrist who returned after exile. The period of action was to be 1810-1820. Gradually, the period expanded until 1825. But by this time main character already matured and became family man. And in order to better understand him, the author had to return to the period of his youth. And it coincided with a glorious era for Russia.
But Tolstoy could not write about the triumph over Bonaparte France without mentioning failures and mistakes. Now the novel already consisted of three parts. The first (according to the author's idea) was to describe the youth of the future Decembrist and his participation in the war of 1812. This is the first period of the hero's life. Tolstoy wanted to devote the second part to the Decembrist uprising. The third - the return of the hero from exile and his later life. However, Tolstoy quickly abandoned this idea: the work on the novel turned out to be too large-scale and painstaking.
Initially, Tolstoy limited the duration of his work to 1805-1812. The epilogue, dated 1920, appeared much later. But the author was worried not only about the plot, but also about the characters. "War and Peace" is not a description of the life of one hero. Central figures are several characters. And the main actor- people, which is much larger than the thirty-year-old Decembrist Pyotr Ivanovich Labazov who returned from exile.
Work on the novel took Tolstoy six years - from 1863 to 1869. And this is not taking into account the six that went into developing the idea of a Decembrist, which became his basis.
Character system in the novel "War and Peace"
Tolstoy's main character is the people. But in his understanding, he is not just social category, but a creative force. According to Tolstoy, the people are all the best that is in the Russian nation. Moreover, it includes not only representatives of the lower classes, but also those of the nobles who tend to want to live for the sake of others.
To the representatives of the people, Tolstoy opposes Napoleon, the Kuragins and other aristocrats - regulars in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. These are the negative characters of the novel "War and Peace". Already in the description of their appearance, Tolstoy emphasizes the mechanistic nature of their existence, lack of spirituality, "animality" of actions, lifelessness of smiles, selfishness and inability to compassion. They are incapable of change. Tolstoy does not see the possibility of their spiritual development, so they remain forever frozen, distant from a true understanding of life.
Often, researchers distinguish two subgroups of "folk" characters:
- Those who are endowed with "simple consciousness". They easily distinguish right from wrong, guided by the "mind of the heart." This subgroup includes such characters as Natasha Rostova, Kutuzov, Platon Karataev, Alpatych, officers Timokhin and Tushin, soldiers and partisans.
- Those who are "searching for themselves." Education and class barriers prevent them from connecting with the people, but they manage to overcome them. This subgroup includes such characters as Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky. It is these heroes who are shown capable of development, internal changes. They are not without flaws, more than once they are mistaken in their life quest but with dignity pass all the tests. Sometimes Natasha Rostova is also included in this group. After all, she was once carried away by Anatole, forgetting about her beloved Prince Bolkonsky. The war of 1812 becomes a kind of catharsis for this entire subgroup, which makes them look at life differently and discard class conventions that until then prevented them from living according to the dictates of their hearts, as the people do.
The simplest classification
Sometimes the characters of "War and Peace" are divided according to an even simpler principle - the ability to live for the sake of others. Such a system of characters is also possible. "War and Peace", like any other work, is the vision of the author. Therefore, everything in the novel takes place in accordance with the attitude of Lev Nikolaevich. The people, in Tolstoy's understanding, are the personification of all the best that is in the Russian nation. Such characters as the Kuragin family, Napoleon, many regulars of the Scherer salon, know how to live only for themselves.
Along Arkhangelsk and Baku
- "Life-burners", from Tolstoy's point of view, are the furthest from a correct understanding of being. This group lives only for themselves, selfishly neglecting others.
- "Leaders". So Arkhangelsky and Bak call those who think they control history. To this group, for example, the authors include Napoleon.
- "Wise men" are those who understood the true world order and were able to trust providence.
- "Ordinary people". This group, according to Arkhangelsky and Bak, includes those who know how to listen to their hearts, but do not really strive anywhere.
- Truth Seekers are Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky. Throughout the novel, they are painfully searching for the truth, striving to understand what the meaning of life is.
- IN separate group the authors of the textbook single out Natasha Rostova. They believe that she is at the same time close to " ordinary people", and to the "wise men". The girl easily comprehends life empirically and knows how to listen to the voice of her heart, but the most important thing for her is her family and children, as it should be, according to Tolstoy, for an ideal woman.
You can consider many more classifications of the characters in "War and Peace", but they all ultimately come down to the simplest one, which fully reflects the worldview of the author of the novel. After all, he saw true happiness in serving others. Therefore, positive (“folk”) heroes know how and want to do this, but negative ones do not.
L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace": female characters
Any work is a reflection of the author's vision of life. According to Tolstoy, the highest purpose of a woman is to take care of her husband and children. It is the keeper of the hearth that the reader sees Natasha Rostova in the epilogue of the novel.
All positive female images of the characters in War and Peace fulfill their highest purpose. the happiness of motherhood and family life endows the author and Maria Bolkonskaya. Interestingly, she is perhaps the most goodie novel. Princess Mary has practically no flaws. Despite a versatile education, she still finds her destiny, as it should be for a Tolstoy heroine, in caring for her husband and children.
A completely different fate awaits Helen Kuragina and the little princess, who did not see the joy in motherhood.
Pierre Bezukhov
This is Tolstoy's favorite character. "War and Peace" describes him as a man who by nature has a highly noble disposition, therefore he easily understands the people. All his mistakes are due to the aristocratic conventions inspired by his upbringing.
Throughout the novel, Pierre experiences many mental traumas, but does not become embittered and does not become less good-natured. He is devoted and sympathetic, often forgetting about himself in an effort to serve others. By marrying Natasha Rostova, Pierre found that grace and true happiness that he so lacked in his first marriage with the completely false Helen Kuragina.
Lev Nikolaevich loves his hero very much. He describes in detail his formation and spiritual development from the very beginning to the end. The example of Pierre shows that the main thing for Tolstoy is responsiveness and devotion. The author rewards him with happiness with his favorite female heroine - Natasha Rostova.
From the epilogue, you can understand the future of Pierre. By changing himself, he seeks to transform society. He does not accept contemporary political foundations of Russia. It can be assumed that Pierre will participate in the Decembrist uprising, or at least actively support it.
Andrey Bolkonsky
For the first time the reader meets this hero in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. He is married to Lisa - the little princess, as she is called, and will soon become a father. Andrei Bolkonsky behaves with all the regulars Sherer is extremely arrogant. But soon the reader notices that this is only a mask. Bolkonsky understands that others do not understand his spiritual quest. He talks to Pierre in a completely different way. But Bolkonsky at the beginning of the novel is not alien to the ambitious desire to achieve heights in the military field. It seems to him that he is above aristocratic conventions, but it turns out that his eyes are just as blinkered as those of the others. Andrei Bolkonsky realized too late that he had renounced his feelings for Natasha in vain. But this insight comes to him only before his death.
Like other “searching” characters in Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace, Bolkonsky has been trying all his life to find the answer to the question of what is the meaning of human existence. But understands highest value family too late.
Natasha Rostova
This is the favorite female character Tolstoy. However, the entire Rostov family seems to the author to be the ideal of nobles living in unity with the people. Natasha cannot be called beautiful, but she is lively and attractive. The girl feels the mood and characters of people well.
According to Tolstoy inner beauty does not match with the outside. Natasha is attractive due to her character, but her main qualities are simplicity and closeness to the people. However, at the beginning of the novel, she lives in her own illusion. Disappointment in Anatole makes her mature, contributes to the maturation of the heroine. Natasha begins attending church and ultimately finds her happiness in family life with Pierre.
Marya Bolkonskaya
The prototype of this heroine was the mother of Lev Nikolaevich. Not surprisingly, it is almost completely devoid of flaws. She, like Natasha, is ugly, but has a very rich inner world. Like others positive characters novel "War and Peace", at the end she also becomes happy, becoming the keeper of the hearth in her own family.
Helen Kuragina
Tolstoy has a multifaceted characterization of characters. War and Peace describes Helen as a cutesy woman with a fake smile. It immediately becomes clear to the reader that external beauty there is no interior content. Marrying her becomes a test for Pierre and does not bring happiness.
Nikolay Rostov
The core of any novel is the characters. War and Peace describes Nikolai Rostov as loving brother and son, as well as a true patriot. Lev Nikolaevich saw in this hero the prototype of his father. After going through the hardships of the war, Nikolai Rostov retires to pay the debts of his family, and finds his true love in the face of Marya Bolkonskaya.
- 33.44 KbAnatole Kuragin
He is the son of Prince Vasily, the brother of Helen and Hippolyte. Prince Vasily himself looks at his son as a "restless fool" who constantly needs to be rescued from various troubles. A. is very handsome, dandy, insolent. He is frankly stupid, not resourceful, but popular in society, because "he had both the ability of calmness, precious to the world, and unchanging confidence." A. friend of Dolokhov, constantly participating in his revelry, looks at life as a constant stream of pleasures and pleasures. He doesn't care about other people, he's selfish. A. treats women with contempt, feeling his superiority. He was used to being liked by everyone, not experiencing anything serious in return. A. became interested in Natasha Rostova and tried to take her away. After this incident, the hero was forced to flee from Moscow and hide from Prince Andrei, who wanted to challenge the seducer of his bride to a duel. The last time they see each other is in the infirmary, after the Battle of Borodino. A. was wounded, his leg was amputated.
Andrey Bolkonsky
This is one of the main characters of the novel, the son of Prince Bolkonsky, the brother of Princess Mary. At the beginning of the novel, we see B. as an intelligent, proud, but rather arrogant person. He despises people of high society, is unhappy in marriage and does not respect his pretty wife. B. is very restrained, well educated, he has a strong will. This hero is going through a big spiritual change. First we see that his idol is Napoleon, whom he considers a great man. B. goes to war, goes to the active army. There he fights on an equal footing with all the soldiers, shows great courage, composure, and prudence. Participates in the Battle of Shengraben. B. was seriously wounded in the battle of Austerlitz. This moment is extremely important, because it was then that the spiritual rebirth hero. Lying motionless and seeing the calm and eternal sky of Austerlitz above him, B. understands all the pettiness and stupidity of everything that happens in the war. He realized that in fact there should be completely different values in life than those that he had until now. All feats, glory do not matter. There is only this vast and eternal sky. In the same episode, B. sees Napoleon and understands all the insignificance of this man. B. returns home, where everyone thought he was dead. His wife dies in childbirth, but the child survives. The hero is shocked by the death of his wife and feels guilty before her. He decides not to serve anymore, settles in Bogucharovo, takes care of the household, raises his son, reads many books. During a trip to St. Petersburg, B. meets Natasha Rostova for the second time. A deep feeling awakens in him, the heroes decide to get married. B.'s father does not agree with the choice of his son, they postpone the wedding for a year, the hero goes abroad. After the betrayal of the bride, he returns to the army under the leadership of Kutuzov. During the Battle of Borodino, he was mortally wounded. By chance, he leaves Moscow in the Rostovs' train. Before his death, he forgives Natasha and understands the true meaning of love.
Anna Pavlovna Sherer
Maid of honor close to Empress Maria Feodorovna. Sh. is the mistress of a fashionable salon in St. Petersburg, the description of the evening in which the novel opens. A.P. 40 years old, she is artificial, like the rest elite. Her attitude to any person or event depends entirely on the latest political, court or secular considerations. She is friendly with Prince Vasily. Sh. "is full of revival and impulse", "to be an enthusiast has become her social position." In 1812, her salon displays false patriotism by eating cabbage soup and being fined for speaking French.
Bagration
It's real historical person, one of the most famous Russian military leaders, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, bears the title of prince. Tolstoy says that B. is "short, with oriental type hard and immovable face, dry, not yet an old man". In the novel, we mainly see him as the commander of the Shengraben battle, whom Kutuzov blessed to save the army. Just the presence of B. on the battlefield already helps the fighters. Everyone loves and respects him for his determination and courage. During the most decisive moment of the battle, B. does not gives visible orders, and dismounts and goes into battle in front of the entire army.During the Battle of Austerlitz, B. also showed his heroism.He alone repulsed the enemy, who was clearly twice as strong, and then, during the retreat, withdrew his column from the battlefield undisturbed. Tolstoy notes that when a dinner was given in honor of B., in his face "honor was saluted to a fighting, simple, without connections and intrigues, Russian soldier ...".
German, first the groom, and then the husband of Vera Rostova. This is a "fresh, pink Guards officer, impeccably washed, buttoned and combed." At the beginning of the work, B. is a lieutenant, and at the end of the work he becomes a colonel, from which it can be seen that B. made a good career. He is precise, calm, courteous, but very selfish and stingy. He loves and can only talk about himself and his successes. Those around him laugh at him, he is a stranger in the Rostovs' house. They do not understand his prudence, stinginess. B. makes an offer to Vera and demands the promised dowry from the old count, despite the difficult financial position Rostov. This hero is clearly unpleasant and alien to Tolstoy himself.
Boris Drubetskoy
Son of Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya. From childhood he was brought up and lived for a long time in the house of the Rostovs, to whom he was a relative. B. and Natasha were in love with each other. Outwardly, this is "a tall, blond young man with regular, delicate features of a calm and handsome face." B. from his youth dreams of a military career, allows his mother to humiliate himself in front of his superiors, if this will help him. So, Prince Vasily finds him a place in the guard. B. is going to make a brilliant career, making many useful acquaintances. After a while, he becomes Helen's lover. B. manages to be in right place at the right time, and his career and position are especially firmly established. In 1809, he meets Natasha again and is carried away by her, even thinking of marrying her. But it would hinder his career. Therefore, B. begins to look for a rich bride. He eventually marries Julie Karagina.
Vasily Kuragin
Prince, father of Helen, Anatole and Hippolyte. This is a very famous and quite influential person in society, he occupies an important court post. The attitude towards everyone around Prince V. is condescending and patronizing. The author shows his hero "in a courtly, embroidered uniform, in stockings, shoes, with stars, with a bright expression of a flat face," with a "perfumed and shining bald head." But when he smiled, there was "something unexpectedly rude and unpleasant" in his smile. Especially Prince V. does not wish harm to anyone. He simply uses people and circumstances to carry out his plans. V. always strives to get close to people who are richer and higher in position. The hero considers himself an exemplary father, he does everything possible to arrange the future of his children. He is trying to marry his son Anatole to the rich Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. After the death of the old prince Bezukhov and Pierre receiving a huge inheritance, V. notices a rich fiancé and by cunning gives his daughter Helen to him. Prince V. is a great intriguer who knows how to live in society and make acquaintances with the right people.
Count Rostov
Rostov Ilya Andreevy - Count, father of Natasha, Nikolai, Vera and Petya. Very kind, generous person loving life and not very able to calculate their funds. R. is best able to make a reception, a ball, he is a hospitable host and an exemplary family man. The count is used to living in a big way, and when the means no longer allow this, he gradually ruins his family, from which he suffers greatly. When leaving Moscow, it is R. who begins to give carts for the wounded. So he deals one of the last blows to the family budget. The death of Petit's son finally broke the count, he comes to life only when he is preparing a wedding for Natasha and Pierre. In the same year, R. dies and leaves a good memory behind.
Countess of Rostov
The wife of Count Rostov, "a woman with an oriental type of thin face, forty-five years old, apparently exhausted by children ... The slowness of her movements and speech, which came from the weakness of her strength, gave her a significant look that inspires respect." R. creates in his family an atmosphere of love and kindness, he cares very much about the fate of his children. The news of the death of the youngest and beloved son of Petya almost drives her crazy. She is accustomed to luxury and the fulfillment of the slightest whims, and demands this after the death of her husband.
The author describes Fyodor Dolokhov as follows: “Dolokhov was a man of medium height, curly-haired and with light, blue eyes. He was about twenty-five years old. He did not wear a mustache, like all infantry officers, and his mouth, the most striking feature of his face, was all The lines of this mouth were remarkably finely curved. upper lip energetically descended on the strong lower one in a sharp wedge, and something like two smiles constantly formed in the corners, one on each side; and all together, and especially in combination with a firm, impudent, intelligent look, gave the impression that it was impossible not to notice this face. "This hero is not rich, but he knows how to put himself in such a way that everyone around respects and fears him. He loves to have fun ", and in a rather strange and sometimes cruel way. For one case of mockery of the quarter, D. was demoted to the soldier. But during the hostilities he regained his rank of officer. This is an intelligent, brave and cold-blooded man. He is not afraid of death, is reputed an evil person, hides his tender love for his mother. In fact, D. does not want to know anyone except those whom he really loves. He divides people into harmful and useful, sees mostly harmful people around him and is ready to get rid of them if they suddenly stand in his way. D. was Helen's lover, he provokes Pierre to a duel, dishonestly beats Nikolai Rostov at cards, and helps Anatole arrange an escape with Natasha.
Captain Tushin
This is the staff captain, the hero of the battle of Shengraben. T. - a man of small stature with a thin voice, there was something "non-military, somewhat comical, but extremely attractive" in him. This hero is shy in front of his superiors, feels guilty, small. On the eve of the battle, T. speaks of the fear of death and what awaits after it. But during the battle, the hero is transformed. He feels like "a huge, powerful man who throws cannonballs at the French with both hands." Battery T. was forgotten during the battle. During the battle, the staff captain is no longer afraid of death or injury, he becomes more and more cheerful, the soldiers obey him like children. Soldiers miraculously survive thanks to the heroism of T.
Princess Mary
Daughter of the old Prince Bolkonsky and sister of Andrei Bolkonsky. M. is ugly, sickly, but her whole face is transformed Perfect eyes: "... the eyes of the princess, large, deep and radiant (as if the rays warm light sometimes sheaves came out of them), were so good that very often, despite the ugliness of the whole face, these eyes became more attractive than beauty. "Princess M. is very religious. She often hosts all kinds of pilgrims, wanderers. She has no close friends , she lives under the yoke of her father, whom she loves, but is incredibly afraid of. old prince Bolkonsky was distinguished by a bad character, M. was absolutely crammed with him and did not at all believe in her personal happiness. She gives all her love to her father, brother Andrei and his son, trying to replace little Nikolenka dead mother. M.'s life changes after meeting Nikolai Rostov. It was he who saw all the wealth and beauty of her soul. They marry, M. becomes a devoted wife, fully sharing all the views of her husband.
Kuragina Helen
Kuragina Helen is the daughter of Prince Vasily, and then the wife of Pierre Bezukhov. A brilliant St. Petersburg beauty with an "unchanging smile", white full shoulders, glossy hair and a beautiful figure. There was no noticeable coquetry in her, as if she was ashamed "for her undoubtedly and too strong and victorious acting beauty." E. is imperturbable, giving everyone the right to admire herself, which is why she feels, as it were, gloss from a multitude of other people's views. She knows how to be silently worthy in the world, giving the impression of a tactful and intelligent woman, which, combined with beauty, ensures her constant success. Having married Pierre Bezukhov, the heroine discovers in front of her husband not only a limited mind, coarseness of thought and vulgarity, but also cynical depravity. After breaking up with Pierre and receiving a large part of the fortune from him by proxy, she lives either in St. Petersburg or abroad, then returns to her husband. Despite the family break, the constant change of lovers, including Dolokhov and Drubetskoy, E. continues to be one of the most famous and favored by the St. Petersburg ladies. She is making very great progress in the world; living alone, she becomes the mistress of the diplomatic and political salon, gaining a reputation as an intelligent woman. Having decided to convert to Catholicism and considering the possibility of divorce and a new marriage, entangled between two very influential high-ranking lovers and patrons, E. dies in 1812.
A real historical person, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. For Tolstoy, he is the ideal of a historical figure and the ideal of a person. “He will listen to everything, remember everything, put everything in its place, will not interfere with anything useful and will not allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more significant than his will, this is an inevitable course of events, and he knows how to see them, knows how to understand their meaning and, in view of this meaning, knows how to renounce participation in these events, from his personal will directed to something else. K. knew that “the fate of the battle is not decided by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not by the place on which the troops stand, not by the number of guns and killed people, but by that elusive force called the spirit of the army, and he followed this force and led it as far as it was in his power." K. merges with the people, he is always modest and simple. His behavior is natural, the author constantly emphasizes his heaviness, senile weakness. K. - an exponent of folk wisdom in the novel. His strength lies in the fact that he understands and knows well what worries the people, and acts in accordance with this. K. dies when he has fulfilled his duty. The enemy is driven out of the borders of Russia, more than this folk hero nothing to do.
Lisa Bolkonskaya
Prince Andrew's wife. She is the darling of the whole world, an attractive young woman whom everyone calls the "little princess". “Her pretty, with a slightly blackened mustache, her upper lip was short in the teeth, but the sweeter it opened and the sweeter it sometimes stretched out and fell on the bottom. her special, actually her beauty. Everyone was glad to look at this full of health and liveliness, a pretty future mother, who endured her position so easily. "L. was a universal favorite due to her constant liveliness and courtesy of a secular woman, she could not imagine her life without high society. But Prince Andrei did not love his wife and felt unhappy in marriage "L. does not understand her husband, his aspirations and ideals. After Andrei's departure for the war, L. lives in the Bald Hills with the old prince Bolkonsky, for whom he feels fear and hostility. L. anticipates his quick death and actually dies during childbirth.
Napoleon
This is a real historical person, french emperor. Tolstoy decided to debunk the legend of Napoleon from the standpoint of real humanism. At the beginning of the novel, this man is the idol of Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov considers N. A great man. But gradually these best heroes of Tolstoy become disillusioned with their idol.
Description of work
Anatole Kuragin
He is the son of Prince Vasily, the brother of Helen and Hippolyte. Prince Vasily himself looks at his son as a "restless fool" who constantly needs to be rescued from various troubles. A. is very handsome, dandy, insolent. He is frankly stupid, not resourceful, but popular in society, because "he had both the ability of calmness, precious to the world, and unchanging confidence." A. friend of Dolokhov, constantly participating in his revelry, looks at life as a constant stream of pleasures and pleasures.
), the French invasion of Russia, the Battle of Borodino and the capture of Moscow, entry allied forces in Paris; the end of the novel is attributed to 1820. The author re-read many historical books and memoirs of his contemporaries; he understood that the task of the artist does not coincide with the task of the historian and, not striving for complete accuracy, he wanted to create the spirit of the era, the originality of her life, the picturesqueness of her style.
Lev Tolstoy. War and Peace. The main characters and themes of the novel
Of course, Tolstoy's historical figures are somewhat modernized: they often speak and think like the author's contemporaries. But this renewal is old and inevitable creative perception the historian of whom process as a continuous, vital stream. Otherwise, it does not piece of art, but dead archeology. The author did not invent anything - he only chose what seemed to him the most significant. “Everywhere,” writes Tolstoy, “wherever only historical figures speak and act in my novel, I did not invent, but used materials from which I formed a whole library of books during my work.”
For "family chronicles" placed in historical framework Napoleonic wars, he used family memoirs, letters, diaries, unpublished notes. Complexity and richness human world”, depicted in the novel, can only be compared with the gallery of portraits of the multi-volume “ human comedy» Balzac . Tolstoy gives more than 70 detailed descriptions, outlines with a few strokes many minor persons - and all of them live, do not merge with each other, remain in memory. One sharply grasped detail determines the figure of a person, his character and behavior. In the waiting room of the dying Count Bezukhov, one of the heirs, Prince Vasily, walks on tiptoe in confusion. "He couldn't walk on tiptoe and jumped awkwardly with his whole body." And in this bouncing, the whole nature of the dignitary and imperious prince is reflected.
The external feature acquires a deep psychological and symbolic sound from Tolstoy. He has incomparable visual acuity, brilliant observation, almost clairvoyance. By one turn of the head or movement of the fingers, he guesses the person. Every feeling, even the most fleeting, is immediately embodied for him in a bodily sign; The movement, posture, gesture, expression of the eyes, the line of the shoulders, the trembling of the lips are read by him as a symbol of the soul. Hence the impression of spiritual and bodily wholeness and completeness that his characters produce. In the art of creating living people with flesh and blood, breathing, moving, casting a shadow, Tolstoy has no equal.
Princess Mary
At the center of the novel are two noble families- Bolkonsky and Rostov. The eldest Prince Bolkonsky, general-in-chief of Catherine's time, a Voltairian and an intelligent gentleman, lives in the Bald Mountains estate with his daughter Marya, ugly and no longer young. Her father loves her passionately, but brings her up harshly and torments her with algebra lessons. Princess Mary "with beautiful radiant eyes", with a shy smile - an image of high spiritual beauty. She meekly bears the cross of her life, prays, accepts " God's people”and dreams of becoming a wanderer ...“ All the complex laws of mankind were concentrated for her in one simple and clear law of love and self-sacrifice, taught to her by the One Who suffered with love for humanity, when He Himself is God. What did she care about the justice or injustice of other people? She had to suffer and love herself, and she did it.
And yet she is sometimes worried about the hope of personal happiness; she wants to have a family, children. When this hope comes true and she marries Nikolai Rostov, her soul continues to strive for "infinite, eternal perfection."
Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Princess Mary's brother, Prince Andrei, does not look like his sister. This is a strong, intelligent, proud and disappointed person, feeling his superiority over others, burdened by his chirping, frivolous wife and looking for practically useful activities. He cooperates with Speransky in the commission for the drafting of laws, but soon gets tired of this abstract office work. He is seized by a thirst for glory, he goes on a campaign in 1805 and, like Napoleon, awaits his "Toulon" - exaltation, greatness, "human love". But instead of the Toulon, the Austerlitz field awaits him, on which he lies wounded and looks into the bottomless sky. “Everything is empty,” he thinks, “everything is a lie, except for this endless sky. Nothing, nothing but him. But even that is not even there, there is nothing but silence, calmness.
Andrey Bolkonsky
Returning to Russia, he settles in his estate and plunges into the "longing of life." The death of his wife, the betrayal of Natasha Rostova, who seemed to him the ideal of girlish charm and purity, plunge him into gloomy despair. And only slowly dying from a wound received in the Battle of Borodino, in the face of death, he finds that “truth of life”, which he always so unsuccessfully sought: “Love is life,” he thinks. Everything, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love it. Love is God, and to die means for me, a particle of love, to return to the common and eternal source.
Nikolay Rostov
Complicated relations connect the Bolkonsky family with the Rostov family. Nikolai Rostov is a whole, spontaneous nature, like Eroshka in The Cossacks or Volodya's brother in Childhood. He lives without questions and doubts, he has " common sense mediocrity." Direct, noble, brave, cheerful, he is surprisingly attractive, despite his limitations. Of course, he cannot understand the mystical soul of his wife Marya, but he knows how to create happy family to raise kind and honest children.
Natasha Rostova
His sister Natasha Rostova is one of the most charming female images Tolstoy. She enters the life of each of us as a beloved and close friend. From her lively, joyful and spiritualized face, a radiance emanates, illuminating everything around her. When she appears, everyone becomes cheerful, everyone starts smiling. Natasha is full of such excess life force, such a "talent of life" that her whims, frivolous hobbies, selfishness of youth and thirst for "the pleasures of life" - everything seems charming.
She is constantly on the move, intoxicated with joy, inspired by feeling; she does not reason, “does not deign to be clever,” as Pierre says about her, but the clairvoyance of the heart replaces her mind. She immediately “sees” a person and accurately defines him. When her fiancé Andrei Bolkonsky leaves for the war, Natasha becomes infatuated with the brilliant and empty Anatole Kuragin. But the break with Prince Andrei and then his death turn her whole soul upside down. Her noble and truthful nature cannot forgive herself for this guilt. Natasha falls into hopeless despair and wants to die. At this time, news comes of her death in the war. younger brother Petit. Natasha forgets about her grief and selflessly takes care of her mother - and this saves her.
“Natasha thought,” writes Tolstoy, “that her life was over. But suddenly love for her mother showed her that the essence of her life - love - was still alive in her. Love woke up and life woke up. Finally, she marries Pierre Bezukhov and turns into a child-loving mother and devoted wife: she refuses all the "pleasures of life" that she loved so passionately before, and devotes herself wholeheartedly to her new, difficult duties. For Tolstoy, Natasha is life itself, instinctive, mysterious and holy in its natural wisdom.
Pierre Bezukhov
ideological and compositional center novel is Count Pierre Bezukhov. All the complex and numerous lines of action coming from two "family chronicles" - the Bolkonskys and the Rostovs - are drawn to it; he clearly enjoys the greatest sympathy of the author and is closest to him in terms of his mental disposition. Pierre belongs to the "searching" people, reminds Nikolenka, Nekhludova, Venison but most of all Tolstoy himself. Before us are not only the external events of life, but also the consistent history of his spiritual development.
The path of searching for Pierre Bezukhov
Pierre was brought up in an atmosphere of Rousseau's ideas, he lives by feeling and is prone to "dreamy philosophizing". He is looking for the “truth”, but due to weakness of will he continues to lead an empty social life, go on a spree, play cards, go to balls; an absurd marriage to the soulless beauty Helen Kuragina, a break with her and a duel with ex-boyfriend Dolokhov produce a profound revolution in it. He's interested in freemasonry, thinks to find in him "inner peace and harmony with himself." But disappointment soon sets in: the philanthropic activity of the Masons seems to him insufficient, their addiction to uniforms and magnificent ceremonies outrages him. He finds a moral stupor, panic fear life.
"The tangled and terrible knot of life" strangles him. And on the Borodino field, he meets the Russian people - new world opens up to him. spiritual crisis prepared by the amazing impressions that suddenly fell upon him: he sees the fire of Moscow, is captured, spends several days awaiting the death sentence, is present at the execution. And then he meets "Russian, kind, round Karataev." Joyful and bright, he saves Pierre from spiritual death and leads him to God.
“First, he sought God for the goals that he set for himself,” writes Tolstoy, and suddenly he recognized in his captivity, not by words, not by reasoning, but by direct feeling, what his nanny had long told him; that God is here, here, everywhere. He learned in captivity that God in Karataev is greater, infinite and incomprehensible than in the Architecton of the universe recognized by the Masons.
Religious inspiration covers Pierre, all questions and doubts disappear, he no longer thinks about the "meaning of life", because the meaning has already been found: love for God and selfless service to people. The novel ends with a picture of the complete happiness of Pierre, who married Natasha Rostova and became a devoted husband and loving father.
Platon Karataev
Soldier Platon Karataev, a meeting with whom in Moscow occupied by the French produced a coup in seeking the truth Pierre Bezukhov, conceived by the author as a parallel to the "folk hero" Kutuzov; he, too, is a person without a personality, passively surrendering to events. This is how Pierre sees him, i.e., the author himself, but he appears to the reader differently. It is not the impersonality, but the extraordinary originality of his personality that strikes us. His well-aimed words, jokes and sayings, his constant activity, his bright cheerfulness of spirit and sense of beauty (“goodness”), his active love for his neighbors, humility, cheerfulness and religiosity are formed in our view not in the image of an impersonal “part of the whole”, but into the amazingly whole face of the people's righteous man.
Platon Karataev - the same " great christian", like the holy fool Grisha in Childhood. Tolstoy intuitively felt its spiritual originality, but his rationalistic explanation glided over the surface of this mystical soul.
In this article, we will introduce you to the main characters of Leo Tolstoy's work "War and Peace". Characteristics of the characters include the main features of appearance and inner world. All the characters in the story are very interesting. Very large in volume is the novel "War and Peace". The characteristics of the heroes are given only briefly, but meanwhile, for each of them you can write separate work. Let's start our analysis with a description of the Rostov family.
Ilya Andreevich Rostov
The Rostov family in the work are typical Moscow representatives of the nobility. Its head, Ilya Andreevich, is known for his generosity and hospitality. This is a count, the father of Petya, Vera, Nikolai and Natasha Rostovs, a rich man and a Moscow gentleman. He is motivated, good-natured, loves to live. In general, speaking of the Rostov family, it should be noted that sincerity, goodwill, lively contact and ease in communication were characteristic of all its representatives.
Some episodes from the life of the writer's grandfather were used by him to create the image of Rostov. The fate of this person is aggravated by the realization of ruin, which he does not immediately understand and is unable to stop. In his appearance there are also some similarities with the prototype. This technique was used by the author not only in relation to Ilya Andreevich. Some internal and external features of Leo Tolstoy's relatives and friends are also guessed in other characters, which is confirmed by the characteristics of the heroes. "War and Peace" is a large-scale work with a huge number of characters.
Nikolay Rostov
Nikolai Rostov - son of Ilya Andreevich, brother of Petya, Natasha and Vera, hussar, officer. At the end of the novel, he appears as the husband of Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. In the appearance of this man one could see "enthusiasm" and "swiftness". It reflected some of the features of the writer's father, who participated in the war of 1812. This hero is distinguished by such features as cheerfulness, openness, goodwill and self-sacrifice. Convinced that he is not a diplomat or an official, Nikolai leaves the university at the beginning of the novel and enters the hussar regiment. Here he participates in the Patriotic War of 1812, in military campaigns. Nicholas takes his first baptism of fire when the Enns is crossed. In the battle of Shengraben, he was wounded in the arm. After passing the test, this man becomes a real hussar, a brave officer.
Petya Rostov
Petya Rostov - youngest child in the Rostov family, brother of Natasha, Nikolai and Vera. He appears at the beginning of the work as a small boy. Petya, like all Rostovs, is cheerful and kind, musical. He wants to imitate his brother and also wants to join the army. After the departure of Nikolai, Petya becomes the main concern of the mother, who only realizes at that time the depth of her love for this child. During the war, he accidentally ends up in the Denisov detachment with an assignment, where he remains, because he wants to take part in the case. Petya dies by coincidence, showing before his death best features Rostovs in relations with comrades.
Countess of Rostov
Rostova is a heroine, when creating the image of which the author used, as well as some circumstances of the life of L. A. Bers, the mother-in-law of Lev Nikolayevich, as well as P. N. Tolstoy, the writer’s paternal grandmother. The Countess is used to living in an atmosphere of kindness and love, in luxury. She is proud of the trust and friendship of her children, pampers them, worries about their fate. Despite external weakness, even some heroine makes reasonable and balanced decisions regarding her children. Dictated by love for children and her desire to marry Nikolai to a wealthy bride at any cost, as well as nit-picking Sonya.
Natasha Rostova
Natasha Rostova is one of the main characters of the work. She is the daughter of Rostov, the sister of Petya, Vera and Nikolai. At the end of the novel, she becomes the wife of Pierre Bezukhov. This girl is presented as "ugly, but alive", with a big mouth, black-eyed. Tolstoy's wife and her sister T. A. Bers served as the prototype for this image. Natasha is very sensitive and emotional, she can intuitively guess the characters of people, sometimes selfish in manifestations of feelings, but most often capable of self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness. We see this, for example, during the removal of the wounded from Moscow, as well as in the episode of nursing the mother after Petya died.
One of the main advantages of Natasha is her musicality, beautiful voice. With her singing, she can awaken all the best that is in a person. This is what saves Nikolai from despair after he lost a large amount.
Natasha, constantly carried away, lives in an atmosphere of happiness and love. After meeting Prince Andrei, a change takes place in her fate. The insult inflicted by Bolkonsky (the old prince) pushes this heroine to be infatuated with Kuragin and to refuse Prince Andrei. Only after feeling and experiencing a lot, she realizes her guilt before Bolkonsky. But true love this girl only feels for Pierre, whose wife she becomes at the end of the novel.
Sonya
Sonya is the pupil and niece of Count Rostov, who grew up in his family. She is 15 at the beginning of the story. This girl fits perfectly into the Rostov family, she is unusually friendly and close to Natasha, she has been in love with Nikolai since childhood. Sonya is silent, restrained, cautious, reasonable, developed in her the highest degree ability to self-sacrifice. She draws attention moral purity and beauty, but she does not have that charm and immediacy that Natasha possesses.
Pierre Bezukhov
Pierre Bezukhov is one of the main characters in the novel. Therefore, without him, the characterization of the heroes ("War and Peace") would be incomplete. Let us briefly describe Pierre Bezukhov. He is the illegitimate son of a count, a famous nobleman, who became the heir to a huge fortune and title. In the work, he is depicted as a fat, massive young man, wearing glasses. This hero is distinguished by a timid, intelligent, natural and observant look. He was brought up abroad, appeared in Russia shortly before the start of the 1805 campaign and the death of his father. Pierre tends to philosophical reflections, smart, kind-hearted and gentle, compassionate towards others. He is also impractical, sometimes subject to passions. Andrei Bolkonsky, his closest friend, characterizes this hero as the only "living person" among all representatives of the world.
Anatole Kuragin
Anatole Kuragin - officer, brother of Ippolit and Helen, son of Prince Vasily. Unlike Ippolit, the "calm fool", Anatole's father looks at Anatole as a "restless fool" who must always be rescued from various troubles. This hero is stupid, impudent, dapper, not eloquent in conversations, depraved, not resourceful, but he has confidence. He looks at life as a constant amusement and pleasure.
Andrey Bolkonsky
Andrei Bolkonsky is one of the main characters in the work, the prince, the brother of Princess Marya, the son of N. A. Bolkonsky. Described as a "quite handsome" young man of "small stature". He is proud, intelligent, looking for great spiritual and intellectual content in life. Andrey is educated, restrained, practical, has strong will. His idol at the beginning of the novel is Napoleon, whom our characterization of the heroes will also introduce to readers just below ("War and Peace"). Andrei Balkonsky dreams of imitating him. After participating in the war, he lives in the village, raises his son, and takes care of the household. Then he returns to the army, dies in the Battle of Borodino.
Platon Karataev
Imagine this hero of the work "War and Peace". Platon Karataev - a soldier who met Pierre Bezukhov in captivity. In the service, he is nicknamed the Falcon. Note that this character was not in the original version of the work. His appearance was caused by the final design in the philosophical concept of "War and Peace" of the image of Pierre.
When he first met this good-natured, affectionate man, Pierre was struck by the feeling of something calm emanating from him. This character attracts others with his calmness, kindness, confidence, as well as smiling. After the death of Karataev, thanks to his wisdom, folk philosophy, expressed unconsciously in his behavior, Pierre Bezukhov understands the meaning of life.
But they are not only depicted in the work "War and Peace". Characteristics of heroes include real historical figures. The main ones are Kutuzov and Napoleon. Their images are described in some detail in the work "War and Peace". The characteristics of the heroes we mentioned are given below.
Kutuzov
Kutuzov in the novel, as in reality, is the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. Described as a man with a plump face, disfigured by a wound, with heavy steps, full, gray-haired. For the first time on the pages of the novel appears in an episode when a review of troops near Branau is depicted. He impresses everyone with his knowledge of the matter, as well as the attention that is hidden behind external absent-mindedness. Kutuzov is able to be diplomatic, he is quite cunning. Before the Battle of Shengraben, he blesses Bagration with tears in his eyes. A favorite of military officers and soldiers. He believes that time and patience are needed to win the campaign against Napoleon, that it is not knowledge, intelligence, or plans that can decide the matter, but something else that does not depend on them, that a person is not able to really influence the course of history . Kutuzov contemplates the course of events more than intervenes in them. However, he knows how to remember everything, listen, see, not interfere with anything useful and not allow anything harmful. This is a modest, simple and therefore majestic figure.
Napoleon
Napoleon is a real historical person, the French emperor. On the eve of the main events of the novel is the idol of Andrei Bolkonsky. Even Pierre Bezukhov bows before the greatness of this man. His confidence and complacency are expressed in the opinion that his presence plunges people into self-forgetfulness and delight, that everything in the world depends only on his will.
Takova a brief description of characters in the novel "War and Peace". It can serve as a basis for more detailed analysis. Referring to the work, you can supplement it if necessary. detailed description heroes. "War and Peace" (1 volume - the introduction of the main characters, subsequent - the development of characters) describes in detail each of these characters. Inner world many of them change over time. Therefore, Leo Tolstoy presents in dynamics the characteristics of the heroes ("War and Peace"). Volume 2, for example, reflects their life between 1806 and 1812. The next two volumes describe further events, their reflection in the fate of the characters.
Characteristics of heroes are of great importance for understanding such a creation of Leo Tolstoy as the work "War and Peace". Through them, the philosophy of the novel is reflected, the author's ideas and thoughts are transmitted.
Heroes of the novel "War and Peace"
L.N. Tolstoy put the “folk thought” as the basis for evaluating the heroes of his book. Kutuzov, Bagration, captains Tushin and Timokhin, Andrey Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov, Petya Rostov, Vasily Denisov, together with the people, stand up to defend their homeland. With all their hearts they love their homeland and people and the heroine of the novel, the wonderful "sorceress" Natasha Rostova. Negative characters novel: Prince Vasily Kuragin and his children Anatole, Ippolit and Helen, careerist Boris Drubetskoy, money-grubber Berg, foreign generals in the Russian service - they are all far from the people and care only about their own personal benefits.
The unparalleled feat of Moscow is immortalized in the novel. Its inhabitants, unlike the inhabitants of the capitals of other countries conquered by Napoleon, did not want to submit to the conquerors and left hometown. “For the Russian people,” says Tolstoy, “there could be no question of whether it would be good or bad under French rule in Moscow. It was impossible to be under the control of the French: it was the worst of all.
Entering Moscow, which looked like an empty hive. Napoleon felt that over him and his armies the hand of the strongest enemy was raised. He began to insistently seek a truce and twice sent ambassadors to Kutuzov. On behalf of the people and the army, Kutuzov decisively rejected Napoleon's proposal for peace and organized a counteroffensive of his troops, supported by partisan detachments.
Having suffered a defeat in the Battle of Tarutino, Napoleon left Moscow. Soon began a disorderly flight of his regiments. Having turned into crowds of marauders and robbers, the Napoleonic troops fled back along the same road that led them to the Russian capital.
After the battle near Krasny Kutuzov addressed his soldiers with a speech in which he heartily congratulated them on their victory and thanked them for their faithful service to the fatherland. In the scene under Krasnoy, the deepest nationality of the great commander, his love for those who saved his homeland from foreign enslavement, his true patriotism is revealed with special penetration.
However, it should be noted that there are scenes in War and Peace where the image of Kutuzov is shown inconsistently. Tolstoy believed that the development of all events taking place in the world does not depend on the will of people, but is predetermined from above. It seemed to the writer that Kutuzov thought the same way and did not consider it necessary to interfere in the development of events. But this decisively contradicts the image of Kutuzov, which was created by Tolstoy himself. The writer emphasizes that great commander he knew how to understand the spirit of the army and strove to control it, that all Kutuzov's thoughts and all his actions were aimed at one goal - to defeat the enemy.
The image of the soldier Platon Karataev, with whom Pierre Bezukhov met and became friends in captivity, is also contradictory drawn in the novel. Karataev is characterized by such features as gentleness, humility, readiness to forgive and forget any offense. Pierre listens with surprise, and then with delight, to Karataev's stories, which always end with gospel calls to love everyone and forgive everyone. But the same Pierre had to see the terrible end of Platon Karataev. When the French drove a batch of prisoners through the autumn dirty road, Karataev fell from weakness and could not get up. And the guards ruthlessly shot him. One cannot forget this terrible scene: the murdered Karataev lies by the muddy forest road, and a hungry, lonely, freezing little dog sits and howls near him, which he saved so recently from death ...
Fortunately, the "Karataev" features were unusual for the Russian people who defended their land. Reading "War and Peace", we see that it was not Platon Karataev who defeated Napoleon's army. This was done by the fearless gunners of the modest Captain Tushin, the brave soldiers of Captain Timokhin, the cavalrymen of Uvarov, and the partisans of Captain Denisov. The Russian army and the Russian people defeated the enemy. And this is shown with convincing force in the novel. It is no coincidence that during the Second World War, Tolstoy's book was a reference book for people. different countries who fought against the invasion of Hitler's fascist hordes. And it will always serve as a source of patriotic inspiration for freedom-loving people.
From the epilogue that ends the novel, we learn about how his characters lived after the end. Patriotic War 1812. Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova joined their destinies, found their happiness. Pierre is still concerned about the future of his homeland. He became a member of a secret organization from which the Decembrists would later emerge. Young Nikolenka Bolkonsky, the son of Prince Andrei, who died from a wound received on the Borodino field, listens attentively to his heated speeches.
You can guess the future of these people by listening to their conversation. Nikolenka asked Pierre: “Uncle Pierre ... If dad were alive ... would he agree with you?” And Pierre replied: “I think so ...”
At the end of the novel, Tolstoy draws a dream of Nikolenka Bolkonsky. “He and Uncle Pierre walked ahead of a huge army,” Nikolenka dreamed. They went on a difficult and glorious feat. Nikolenka was accompanied by her father, who encouraged both him and Uncle Pierre. Waking up, Nikolenka makes a firm decision: to live in such a way as to be worthy of the memory of his father. "Father! Father! Nikolenka thinks. “Yes, I will do what even he would be pleased with.”
With this oath Nikolenka Tolstoy completes storyline novel, as if opening the veil to the future, stretching the threads from one era of Russian life to another, when the heroes of 1825, the Decembrists, entered the historical arena.
Thus ends the work to which Tolstoy, in his own admission, devoted five years of "continuous and exceptional labor."
